Page 133 of Muted

A hand fisting the neck of my shirt stops me the moment I enter the room, and I’m slammed against the wall. The only thing stopping me from lashing out is the fact that this man is wearing a police uniform and looks about ready to pull a gun on me.

“Who the fuck are you?” he sneers.

Christ, he’s strong for an older guy.

Holding my hands out to the side, I relax under his hand. “I’m Theodore Gatlin, Susu—Susanna’s boyfriend.” Scouring the room quickly, I see Chaz standing next to the bed where I assume she’s resting and point at him. “He knows me.”

The officer turns his head to look over his shoulder. “You know him?”

“Hijo de puta.” Miriam’s voice rings out behind me and the officer whips his head to the side, staring down the woman who looks like she’s about to murder me. “Thanks for waiting, you dick.”

It didn’t take me long to learnthatphrase from her, since she directed it at me countless times during our drive as I scared the shit out of with the speed I was driving. She definitely thinks I’m a son of a bitch.

Chaz sounds exhausted, almost broken, as he sighs. “Yeah. He’s good. They’re both good. She’d want them here.” I barely hear the extra two words he tacks on after a moment’s pause, but when they register, I frown. “I think.”

The officer releases me, and I push off the wall to get to my girl. I hear the officer ask Miriam, “Who the hell are you?” but I don’t stick around for introductions.

I briefly hear her answer, “Miriam Delgado,” but nothing more.

Chaz’s body is blocking my view, but I know Susu’s there because there’s a small bump under the sheets where her legs are covered.

“What do you mean ‘I thi—” My voice cuts off as I walk to the other side and my heart literally stops beating. “Fuck,” I whisper, falling to my knees at her side.

“Dios mio,” Miriam whispers, following me to the bed.

My chest is heaving as I take her in. She looks like death. Her skin is beyond pale, to the point that I can see the blue veins under her skin and bruised circles under her eyes. It looks like someone tried their best to clean her up, but there are smudges of dirt around the edges of her face and streaking down her neck.

There’s a bandage over a wound on her forehead and another over her temple. The iodine they used to disinfect her reaching out in large circles stretch beyond the tape to keep the bandage in place. My eyes fall down her body, where her perfect skin has been marred with tiny scratches and blooming bruises from being hit or held by that piece of shit’s fingers.

When I see the IV taped to the top of her hand, I notice raw skin around her wrists and I choke out, “Did he fucking bind her?”

Chaz’s gruff, gravelly voice rasps out, “Yes.”

A pained sound escapes Miriam as she spins around and walks over to the wall, taking a moment to herself.

My eyes find him, and I’m shocked again by the absolute devastation in his features. He’s swaying slightly on his feet as he stands next to her, staring down unblinkingly, as if he’s afraid to take his eyes off her. His hands are shaking as he holds them balled next to his sides.

“What. Happened?” I bite out, but Chaz only shakes his head.

“Susanna was taken from her family home this morning sometime between around five and six a.m.” Jerking my head to the side, I squint at the officer who stopped me when I walked into the room.

“Who are you?” I ask him.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he leans against the wall by the door. “I’m Lieutenant Kevin Cooper. I was one of the officers on scene when we recovered Susanna this morning. Would you like me to continue?”

“Please,” I say, thankful for his help, even if he seems like a dick.

Nodding once, he continues. “From what we learned from Chester here, it would seem that one of your acquaintances from work informed Arthur Walston of Susanna’s location. He also forwarded her contact information to him. From that, he tracked her phone number through connections he has here and found her at home. He simply waited until she exited and took her.”

Blowing out a gust of air, I suck another in just as quickly, not wanting to know more, but also wanting to know everything. Lieutenant Cooper is watching my reaction, then flicks his gaze over to Miriam’s pale face before looking away from her.

Chaz growls, “Fucking Cliff,” but I only stare at the lieutenant for him to continue. Cooper glances at Chaz with a hint of concern before explaining more.

“He took her about two hours away, a remote area in the woods, where he had every intention of killing her and burying her body. He almost succeeded. When we arrived, it was just as he used his gun to hit her on the side of her head, which caused her to go unconscious. He dropped her into a hole he had dug, but we were able to stop him just as he began to bury her.”

My mouth falls open and closed, the vision of what he’s describing making me feel ill. Staring down at my girl, I reach out and run my hand over the side of her face that’s free from injury.

“What happened to her forehead?” Miriam asks from her spot in the corner of the room.

---